]]>UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – African U.N. envoys suggested on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump meet with African leaders in Ethiopia this month after he was reported to have described some immigrants from Africa and Haiti as coming from “shithole” countries.

African ambassadors met with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who told them she regretted the political drama around what was said a week ago at a White House meeting on immigration, according to diplomats at the U.N. meeting.

The diplomats said that South African U.N. Ambassador Jerry Matjila, who spoke on behalf of the group, told Haley that “it could be useful” for Trump to address African leaders directly when they meet in Addis Ababa at the African Union.

That meeting is due to take place on Jan. 28-29, according to the African Union website.

Haley told the ambassadors she did not know what had been said in last week’s White House meeting and promised to convey the African ambassadors’ message to Trump when she meets with him in Washington on Friday, according to the diplomats.

Trump has denied using such derogatory language.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the U.N. meeting beyond a tweet it posted, which read: “Thank you to the Africa Group for meeting today. We discussed our long relationship and history of combating HIV, fighting terrorism, and committing to peace throughout the region.”

African U.N. ambassadors issued a statement last Friday that said they were “extremely appalled at, and strongly condemned the outrageous, racist, xenophobic remarks attributed to the president of the United States.”

They demanded Trump retract his remarks and apologize.

According to diplomats at the U.N. meeting on Thursday, Haley also spoke about the billions of dollars that the United States had invested in the fight against HIV/Aids and terrorism in Africa and in humanitarian aid for South Sudan.

Haley traveled to Ethiopia, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo in late October.

]]>http://tupo.co.ke/african-u-n-envoys-suggest-trump-meet-leaders-ethiopia-shithole-remark/feed/028418Ugandan lawyers seek to quash Museveni ‘president for life’ lawhttp://tupo.co.ke/ugandan-lawyers-seek-quash-museveni-president-life-law/
http://tupo.co.ke/ugandan-lawyers-seek-quash-museveni-president-life-law/#respondTue, 16 Jan 2018 05:08:57 +0000http://tupo.co.ke/?p=28367Uganda’s leading lawyers sought on Monday to overturn a law that critics say would allow incumbent leader Yoweri Museveni to effectively become president for life. The law, passed last month, scrapped a constitutional provision that limited the age of a presidential candidate to below 75 years. It clears the way for Museveni, 73, and president […]

]]>Uganda’s leading lawyers sought on Monday to overturn a law that critics say would allow incumbent leader Yoweri Museveni to effectively become president for life.

The law, passed last month, scrapped a constitutional provision that limited the age of a presidential candidate to below 75 years. It clears the way for Museveni, 73, and president since 1986 to seek re-election in 2021 when the next polls are due.

Francis Gimara, president of Uganda Law Society (ULS), told Reuters the lawyers petitioned in court on Monday to nullify the law.

“The overall climate in which that bill was discussed and passed … was wrong,” Gimara said, citing a security raid on parliament and insufficient consultations with the people.

Many Ugandans including the political opposition, religious leaders and some members of Museveni’s own ruling party opposed the proposal to change the constitution.

Protests against the move erupted in different parts of the country prompting police to use teargas, beatings and detention to thwart them.

In September fist fights broke out in parliament for two consecutive days as lawmakers opposed to the measure tried to filibuster it.

In a move widely condemned by rights groups, security personnel entered the debating chamber on the second day and forcibly removed some legislators after the speaker suspended them for involvement in the fighting.

Ugandan judges have made major anti-government rulings in the past but some critics say judicial independence has significantly eroded under Museveni’s rule.

“That court is full is full of cadre judges so I am not very optimistic,” legislator John Baptist Nambeshe, referring to the country’s constitutional court.

Nambeshe is a member of the ruling party but he opposed the law.

The phrase “cadre judge” is commonly used in Uganda to describe judicial officers seen as allied with the ruling party.

Museveni has drawn mounting criticism from local and international rights activists who view him as evolving into another African strongman unwilling to give up power in the prospective crude oil producer.

The move to clear legal hurdles and extend his rule also mirrored similar maneuvers by other leaders in the region that have alarmed African democracy watchers.

In Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Burundi efforts by leaders to hold onto power have triggered instability.

]]>http://tupo.co.ke/ugandan-lawyers-seek-quash-museveni-president-life-law/feed/028367Ethiopia to free opposition leader, others jailed for involvement in unresthttp://tupo.co.ke/ethiopia-free-opposition-leader-others-jailed-involvement-unrest/
http://tupo.co.ke/ethiopia-free-opposition-leader-others-jailed-involvement-unrest/#respondTue, 16 Jan 2018 04:15:43 +0000http://tupo.co.ke/?p=28342ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopian authorities have dropped charges against a senior opposition leader and hundreds of others who had been jailed for involvement in unrest that gripped the country in 2015 and 2016, the country’s attorney general said on Monday. Hundreds have been killed in violence in the Horn of Africa country since protests […]

]]>ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopian authorities have dropped charges against a senior opposition leader and hundreds of others who had been jailed for involvement in unrest that gripped the country in 2015 and 2016, the country’s attorney general said on Monday.

Hundreds have been killed in violence in the Horn of Africa country since protests first erupted in its central Oromiya province over allegations of land grabs.

Several dissident politicians have since been jailed having been charged with involvement in terrorism and collusion with the secessionist Oromo Liberation Front, which the government has branded a terrorist group.

Facing mounting unrest, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced earlier this month that jailed politicians would be released and those facing trial would have their cases dismissed in a bid to foster reconciliation.

On Monday, Attorney General Getachew Ambaye told journalists that 528 people had so far been selected for clemency, including Merera Gudina – leader of the opposition group Oromo Federalist Congress who was arrested in late 2015.

Getachew said criteria for their selection involved taking into account proof that the suspects did not take part in actions that led to killings and severe injury, damaging infrastructure, and “conspiracy to dismantle the constitutional order by force”.

“All 528 will be released within two months,” he said.

Merera was arrested after a trip to Brussels to meet members of the European Parliament, and formally charged with attempting to “dismantle or disrupt social, economic and political activity”.

He was also accused of backing a secessionist group Addis Ababa labels a terrorist movement, as well as flouting guidelines on a state of emergency that was imposed for nine months during his trip to Belgium.

Nearly 700 people died in one bout of unrest during months of protests in 2015 and 2016, according to a parliament-mandated investigation.

Rallies over land rights broadened into demonstrations over political restrictions and perceived rights abuses, before spreading into the northern Amhara region and – to a smaller extent – in its SNNP province in the south.

In recent months, a spate of ethnic clashes have also taken place. Dozens of people were killed in several bouts of violence between ethnic Oromos and Somalis in the Oromiya region last year.

Hailemariam made his announcement after the ruling EPRDF coalition concluded a weeks-long meeting meant to thrash out policies to address grievances.

The unrest had triggered growing friction within the party. Some high-ranking members had subsequently submitted their resignation, while officials have openly squabbled with each other over the cause of clashes.

Getachew said more pardons and releases are set to follow.

Ethiopia, sandwiched between volatile Somalia and Sudan, is often accused by rights groups of using security concerns as an excuse to stifle dissent and media freedoms. It denies the charge.

]]>http://tupo.co.ke/ethiopia-free-opposition-leader-others-jailed-involvement-unrest/feed/028342Donald Trump denies being a racist after ‘shithole’ rowhttp://tupo.co.ke/donald-trump-denies-racist-shithole-row/
http://tupo.co.ke/donald-trump-denies-racist-shithole-row/#respondMon, 15 Jan 2018 08:58:12 +0000http://tupo.co.ke/?p=28305President Donald Trump has denied that he is racist, after a row broke out over his alleged use of the word “shithole” to describe African nations. Mr Trump reportedly used the term last week during a bipartisan Oval Office meeting on immigration reform. He has now told reporters: “I am not a racist. I’m the […]

]]>President Donald Trump has denied that he is racist, after a row broke out over his alleged use of the word “shithole” to describe African nations.

Mr Trump reportedly used the term last week during a bipartisan Oval Office meeting on immigration reform.

He has now told reporters: “I am not a racist. I’m the least racist person you have ever interviewed.”

It is the first time the president has responded directly to the racism accusations.

He made the denial to White House press pool reporters at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in Florida on Sunday night.

What did the president allegedly say?

The row broke out after lawmakers from both parties visited the president on Thursday to work on a proposal for a bipartisan immigration deal.

In recent weeks the Trump administration has been withdrawing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from a number of nationalities currently living in the country.

Reports later emerged in US media that Mr Trump had asked during the meeting: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”

Mr Trump was said to have told them that instead of granting temporary residency to citizens of countries hit by natural disasters, war or epidemics, the US should be taking in migrants from countries like Norway.

Accounts suggest that when Mr Trump was told that the largest groups of immigrants with the status were from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti, the president responded: “Haitians? Do we need more Haitians?”

Who backed up the claims?

The president tweeted on Friday morning that the language he used in the meeting was “tough” but disputed the wording of the reports.

End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump

He also posted another tweet denying he had insulted Haitians, accusing Democrats of making it up.

But Senator Dick Durbin stood by claims, and said that Mr Trump had used “hate-filled, vile and racist” language during the meeting.

Media captionDick Durbin: “Trump said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeatedly”

Several senior Republican lawmakers at the meeting, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, have said they do not recall Mr Trump making the remark.

But another Republican senator who was there, Lindsey Graham, did not deny the comments were made.

“Following comments by the president, I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The president and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel,” he said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a senior Republican, said that Donald Trump’s immigration comments were “very unfortunate” and “unhelpful”.

Asked on Sunday on whether he thought the comments had made it harder to achieve any immigration deal, Mr Trump responded: “Have you seen what various senators said about my comments? They weren’t made.”

What has the reaction been?

The UN human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, told a Geneva news briefing: “There is no other word one can use but racist. You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as ‘shitholes’.”

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) accused the president of falling “deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of racism and xenophobia”.

Several Democratic representatives have said they intend to skip the president’s State of the Union address later this month over the comments, accusing the president of racism.

]]>http://tupo.co.ke/donald-trump-denies-racist-shithole-row/feed/028305Congo launches offensive against Ugandan rebels in its easthttp://tupo.co.ke/congo-launches-offensive-ugandan-rebels-east/
http://tupo.co.ke/congo-launches-offensive-ugandan-rebels-east/#respondSun, 14 Jan 2018 07:21:37 +0000http://tupo.co.ke/?p=28270GOMA, Congo (Reuters) – Congolese troops began a military offensive in the eastern city of Beni on Saturday against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel armed group blamed for an attack that killed 15 United Nations peacekeepers last month. The operation is part of a joint effort by Democratic Republic of the Congo […]

]]>GOMA, Congo (Reuters) – Congolese troops began a military offensive in the eastern city of Beni on Saturday against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel armed group blamed for an attack that killed 15 United Nations peacekeepers last month.

The operation is part of a joint effort by Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda against the group after the suspected ADF attack on a base manned by Tanzanian peacekeeping troops.

That attack, which also killed five Congolese soldiers and wounded another 53 peacekeepers, came amid a rising wave of violence in the mineral-rich, ethnically volatile area.

“Since this morning, we have launched a general offensive against the ADF phenomena,” General Marcel Mbangu, commander in charge of Congo’s North Kivu province, told a new conference.

“This is, for us, the final offensive. We will fight them until the end, until we have secured our territory,” he added.

Residents reported the sounds of gunfire and explosions in Beni on Saturday.

Rival militia groups control parts of eastern Congo long after the official end of a 1998-2003 war in which millions of people died, mostly from hunger and disease.

A surge in militia violence across the country, which followed President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down when his mandate expired just over a year ago, has raised fears Congo could slide into all-out war again.

The Islamist ADF has long been active along the Congo-Uganda border and has been blamed for a spate of massacres. Last month Uganda launched air strikes and artillery attacks on ADF positions on its side.

]]>http://tupo.co.ke/congo-launches-offensive-ugandan-rebels-east/feed/028270South Africa to target investment, graft under new ANC leaderhttp://tupo.co.ke/south-africa-target-investment-graft-new-anc-leader/
http://tupo.co.ke/south-africa-target-investment-graft-new-anc-leader/#respondSat, 13 Jan 2018 15:02:08 +0000http://tupo.co.ke/?p=28248South Africa wants to attract foreign investors to help it kick-start economic growth and eradicate poverty and will crack down on corruption, the new leader of the ruling African National Congress said on Saturday. Cyril Ramaphosa, who won the tight race to succeed President Jacob Zuma as ANC leader last month, also said that he […]

]]>South Africa wants to attract foreign investors to help it kick-start economic growth and eradicate poverty and will crack down on corruption, the new leader of the ruling African National Congress said on Saturday.

Cyril Ramaphosa, who won the tight race to succeed President Jacob Zuma as ANC leader last month, also said that he would make fighting corruption a priority in a speech to mark 106 years since the founding of Africa’s oldest liberation movement.

South Africa’s economy has slowed to a near-standstill during Zuma’s two presidential terms, as allegations of influence-peddling in government and mismanagement of state-owned enterprises have dented consumer and business confidence.

But Ramaphosa’s election win has injected a sense of optimism that the ANC, which has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, could win back the trust of voters and investors disillusioned with Zuma’s rule.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and South African President Jacob Zuma arrive for the African National Congress (ANC) 106th Birthday celebrations at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London, South Africa

“South Africa is open for investment and we invite all investors from all over the world to come to South Africa to invest in our country so that we can grow our economy, create jobs, end poverty,” Ramaphosa told tens of thousands of cheering ANC members in a stadium in the Eastern Cape province.

“We must have an economy that offers policy certainty and addresses areas that inhibit investment, growth as well as social inclusion,” said Ramaphosa, 65, a former trade union leader and one of the country’s wealthiest businessmen.

There has been widespread speculation that Ramaphosa and his allies are lobbying ANC members to oust Zuma as head of state in the coming weeks, but he made no mention of Zuma’s future.

Zuma sat alongside Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to hear Ramaphosa speak and was booed by some sections of the crowd when he entered the stadium.

Zuma’s second presidential term doesn’t officially end until 2019 when national elections will be held, but he could be removed early through a motion of no confidence in parliament or at a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee.

Ramaphosa said on Saturday that a judicial inquiry into allegations of influence-peddling in Zuma’s government was a top priority and that those responsible should be prosecuted.

Zuma has denied allegations that he has allowed his friends to influence the appointment of cabinet ministers.

Ramaphosa’s message resonated with ANC member Vanita Kok, 49, from the Khoi San royal house. She said: “Corruption is rife and I hope he sorts it out.”

]]>http://tupo.co.ke/south-africa-target-investment-graft-new-anc-leader/feed/028248Donald Trump must apologise for comments – African Unionhttp://tupo.co.ke/donald-trump-must-apologise-comments-african-union/
http://tupo.co.ke/donald-trump-must-apologise-comments-african-union/#respondSat, 13 Jan 2018 08:57:26 +0000http://tupo.co.ke/?p=28229The organisation representing African countries has demanded that US President Donald Trump apologise after he reportedly called nations on the continent “shitholes”. The group’s mission in Washington DC expressed its “shock, dismay and outrage” and said the Trump administration misunderstood Africans. The US leader made the alleged remark in a Thursday meeting on immigration. But […]

]]>The organisation representing African countries has demanded that US President Donald Trump apologise after he reportedly called nations on the continent “shitholes”.

The group’s mission in Washington DC expressed its “shock, dismay and outrage” and said the Trump administration misunderstood Africans.

The US leader made the alleged remark in a Thursday meeting on immigration.

But Mr Trump has denied using the language reported.

He has been backed by two Republicans who were at the White House meeting, but Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said Mr Trump called African countries “shitholes” several times and used “racist” language.

On Friday, Mr Trump on Friday tweeted that his language he used at the private meeting with lawmakers to discuss immigration legislation had been “tough”.

But he added that the words attributed to him were “not the language used”.

Media captionDick Durbin: “Trump said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeatedly”

What did the African Union say?

It said the “remarks dishonour the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity”.

It added: “While expressing our shock, dismay and outrage, the African Union strongly believes that there is a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current Administration.

“There is a serious need for dialogue between the US Administration and the African countries.”

The pan-African grouping represents 55 member states throughout the continent. It succeeded the Organisation of African Unity – which originated in the decolonisation struggles of the early 1960s – in 2002.

What exactly did Trump say?

The remarks were allegedly made when lawmakers visited him on Thursday to discuss a bipartisan proposal that would impose new restrictions on immigration but protect the so-called “Dreamers” – hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the US illegally as children – from deportation.

Mr Trump was said to have told them that instead of granting temporary residency to citizens of countries hit by natural disasters, war or epidemics, the US should instead be taking in migrants from countries like Norway.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” the Washington Post quoted him as saying.

Mr Durbin said that when Mr Trump was told that the largest groups of immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) were from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti, the president responded: “Haitians? Do we need more Haitians?”

But in another tweet on Friday the president denied that he insulted Haitians.

End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump

Many US media outlets reported the comments on Thursday, quoting witnesses or people briefed on the meeting. The White House did not deny them.

What has been the political fallout?

“I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday,” Mr Durbin told reporters on Friday

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a top Republican, said the reported comments were “unfortunate” and “unhelpful”

Hillary Clinton, who lost to Mr Trump in the 2016 presidential election, said the country had been subjected to his “ignorant, racist views of anyone who doesn’t look like him” and noted that it was eight years since Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake

Republican Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue, of Arkansas and Georgia, said that they could not remember Mr Trump describing countries as “shitholes” in the meeting

Mia Love, a Utah Republican and the only Haitian-American in Congress, demanded an apology from Mr Trump for the “unkind, divisive, elitist” comments

Steve King, a right-wing Republican Congressman from Iowa, backed the president in a tweet:

End of Twitter post by @HillaryClinton

Another Republican Senator who was there, Lindsey Graham, did not deny the comments were made. “Following comments by the president, I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The president and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel,” he said.

On Friday, Mr Trump ignored press questions about the issue as he signed a proclamation declaring a holiday in honour of civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr – as presidents do every year.

He said Americans were celebrating that “self-evident truth” that “no matter what the colour of our skin or the place of our birth, we are all created equal by God”.

What has been the global reaction?

Botswana summoned the US ambassador and asked the envoy “to clarify if Botswana is regarded as a ‘shithole’ country given that there are Botswana nationals residing in the US”

UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said the comments, if confirmed, were “shocking and shameful”, adding: “I’m sorry but there is no other word for this but racist.”

Haiti’s US Ambassador Paul Altidor told the BBC the idea that “we’re simply immigrants who come here to take advantage of the US” is wrong.

]]>http://tupo.co.ke/donald-trump-must-apologise-comments-african-union/feed/028229Zimbabwe faces bloodshed if ‘illegal regime’ stays, Mugabe ally sayshttp://tupo.co.ke/zimbabwe-faces-bloodshed-illegal-regime-stays-mugabe-ally-says/
http://tupo.co.ke/zimbabwe-faces-bloodshed-illegal-regime-stays-mugabe-ally-says/#respondFri, 12 Jan 2018 20:12:04 +0000http://tupo.co.ke/?p=28217JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was sacked as president illegally and the international community must help remove the “military government” that has taken power or risk the country descending into chaos, an exiled Mugabe loyalist said on Friday. Mugabe, 93, stood down last November, a week after the army and his former political allies […]

]]>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was sacked as president illegally and the international community must help remove the “military government” that has taken power or risk the country descending into chaos, an exiled Mugabe loyalist said on Friday.

Mugabe, 93, stood down last November, a week after the army and his former political allies turned against him, ending nearly four decades of rule marred by allegations of corruption, human rights abuses and economic negligence.

His former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, whose sacking prompted the military takeover that forced Mugabe out, was sworn in as president and the general who led the de facto coup, Constantino Chiwenga, was installed as his deputy.

Mugabe’s resignation came in the form of a written statement and he has not spoken since.

“The president was alleged to have resigned. There is no evidence,” Jonathan Moyo, a cabinet minister under Mugabe, told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location, in one of the first detailed accounts from a Mugabe supporter since the coup.

“It is completely unsustainable for anyone to say Mugabe resigned voluntarily when we know the army took over all institutions of the state and confined him to his residence. You have to be applying a Banana Republic model to say he resigned.”

Moyo was the fiercely combative mouthpiece for a faction in the ruling ZANU-PF party that opposed Mnangagwa and backed Mugabe’s 52-year old wife, Grace, to succeed him.

Mugabe’s departure brought tens of thousands of jubilant Zimbabweans onto the streets and was widely cheered by leaders in Africa and the West.

But Moyo said the international community, including the African Union and the United Nations, was making a huge mistake if it legitimized a government that came to power via a coup.

“This is a military government. You cannot send the arsonists to be the fire brigade,” he said.

He said the public was currently living in unprecedented fear of the former soldiers who have taken political office but eventually the masses would not stand for an “illegal regime”.

“FLOODGATES TO CONFLICT”

“If you don’t intervene when there has been such an outrageous, brazen attack on a constitutional order, you are simply opening the floodgates to conflict,” he said.

“If they don’t act, just as the sun will rise tomorrow, Zimbabwe will be another Somalia. There will be bloodshed.”

Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment. But in response to earlier criticisms leveled by Moyo, government spokesman George Charamba said on Thursday the issue of legitimacy or illegitimacy did not arise.

He pointed to large demonstrations in November calling for Mugabe’s departure and “across the political spectrum support” for his replacement by a new administration.

Many of Mugabe’s political allies were either arrested by the military in a series of spectacular raids in the early hours of Nov. 15 or they fled into neighboring countries.

Moyo said he narrowly escaped with his life.

“This was not Mickey Mouse stuff. There was heavy gunfire for 15 minutes. They shot stun grenades in the house. I was there with my wife and children,” Moyo said, adding that he has since fled to another country over fears for his safety.

“They still have aspirations to harm me.”

Grace Mugabe’s accelerating presidential ambitions contributed to Mnangagwa and the military taking action to prevent her taking over from her ailing husband.

Moyo, a figure reviled in much of Zimbabwe for his often brutal verbal assaults on detractors, says he has no regrets.

“I will never, ever accept the proposition that those who use violence have outsmarted me,” he said.

“I would rather be hated for standing for my principles and believing in the rule of law than be feared that if people don’t agree with me I will unleash the tanks.”

]]>http://tupo.co.ke/zimbabwe-faces-bloodshed-illegal-regime-stays-mugabe-ally-says/feed/028217Trump questions taking immigrants from ‘shithole countries’: sourceshttp://tupo.co.ke/trump-questions-taking-immigrants-shithole-countries-sources/
http://tupo.co.ke/trump-questions-taking-immigrants-shithole-countries-sources/#respondFri, 12 Jan 2018 03:53:18 +0000http://tupo.co.ke/?p=28147President Donald Trump on Thursday questioned why the United States would want to have immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to some as “shithole countries,” according to two sources familiar with the comments. Trump’s remarks, made in the White House, came as Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham briefed the president […]

]]>President Donald Trump on Thursday questioned why the United States would want to have immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to some as “shithole countries,” according to two sources familiar with the comments.

Trump’s remarks, made in the White House, came as Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham briefed the president on a newly drafted immigration bill being touted by a bipartisan group of senators, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified.

Other government officials were present during the conversation, the sources said.

The lawmakers were describing how certain immigration programs operate, including one to give safe haven in the United States to people from countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife.

One of the sources who was briefed on the conversation said that Trump said, “Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They’re shithole countries … We should have more people from Norway.”

The second source familiar with the conversation, said Trump, who has vowed to clamp down on illegal immigration, also questioned the need for Haitians in the United States.

Many Democrats and some Republican lawmakers slammed the president for his remarks.

Republican U.S. Representative Mia Love, a daughter of Haitian immigrants, said the comments were “unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation’s values” and called on Trump to apologize to the American people and to the countries he denigrated.

Another Republican Representative, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who was born in Cuba and whose south Florida district includes many Haitian immigrants, said: “Language like that shouldn’t be heard in locker rooms and it shouldn’t be heard in the White House.”

TPS PROGRAM

The program that was being discussed at the White House is called Temporary Protected Status.

In November, the Trump administration decided to end the status for immigrants from Haiti and Nicaragua. It gave the approximately 59,000 Haitian immigrants who had been granted the status until July 2019 to return home or legalize their presence in the United States. Nicaraguans were given until January 2019.

This week, Trump moved to end the status for immigrants from El Salvador, which could result in 200,000 Salvadorans legally in the United States being deported beginning in September of next year.

The bipartisan Senate plan would attempt to maintain TPS in return for ending or changing a “diversity” lottery program that has been aimed at allowing up to 50,000 people a year from countries with few emigres to the United States.

Asked about Trump’s comments, White House spokesman Raj Shah said: “Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people.”

“Like other nations that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation,” Shah said.

Another source familiar with the meeting said Trump was questioning why the United States should take in unskilled laborers from the countries under discussion and should instead welcome immigrants from nations that can offer skilled workers.

]]>http://tupo.co.ke/trump-questions-taking-immigrants-shithole-countries-sources/feed/028147Facebook plans major changes to news feedhttp://tupo.co.ke/facebook-plans-major-changes-news-feed/
http://tupo.co.ke/facebook-plans-major-changes-news-feed/#respondFri, 12 Jan 2018 03:45:52 +0000http://tupo.co.ke/?p=28143Facebook is to change how its news feed works, making posts from businesses, brands and media less prominent. Instead, content that sparks conversations among family and friends who use the site will be emphasised, explained chief executive Mark Zuxkerberg on his page. Organisations on Facebook may see the popularity of their posts decrease as a […]

]]>Facebook is to change how its news feed works, making posts from businesses, brands and media less prominent.

Instead, content that sparks conversations among family and friends who use the site will be emphasised, explained chief executive Mark Zuxkerberg on his page.

Organisations on Facebook may see the popularity of their posts decrease as a result, the firm acknowledged.

The changes will take effect over the coming weeks.

“We’ve gotten feedback from our community that public content – posts from businesses, brands and media – is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other,” wrote Mr Zuckerberg.

He said that he and his team felt a responsibility to make sure Facebook was good for people’s wellbeing.

If public content is to be promoted, it will now have to be seen to encourage community interaction – as happens within the tight-knit groups that discuss TV programmes and sports, he said.

Another example given by Facebook in a separate post was live video feeds, which tend to generate much discussion.

“By making these changes, I expect the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement will go down,” added Mr Zuckerberg.

“But I also expect the time you do spend on Facebook will be more valuable.”

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionRepresentatives from Facebook, Twitter and Google were grilled on the issue of online disinformation at a US Senate hearing last October

In a previous post, Mr Zuckerberg had vowed to “fix” Facebook in 2018, saying he wanted to ensure that users were protected from abuse and that time spent on the site would be time well spent.

He also pledged to defend Facebook from nation states.

Analysis has recently suggested that some actors, including Russia, have tried to manipulate content on the social network.

“It’s going to affect publishers a lot, we’re going to be seeing a lot less news organically pop up in our news feeds.”

Ms Owen added, however, that Facebook had not been very clear about what sort of discussions the site’s revamped algorithms would prioritise.

It might end up being “the most controversial stuff” that generates heated conversations, she suggested, or simply content pulled in from group pages where users engage with others on specific topics.

POWERFUL ‘ADMISSION’

Given recent public scrutiny, the social network was currently “in the hot seat”, said Gabriel Kahn from the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

“Facebook is in the midst of all of these fires it’s trying to put out, it’s trying to reassert its warm and fuzzy brand value that it has always tried to put forth,” he told the BBC.

Mr Kahn added the update from Mr Zuckerberg was a “clear admission” that Facebook wielded significant power over the health of society.

However, he argued that the new priorities could further distort views and the nature of conversations.

“There should be public debate about the values they’re applying to that algorithm,” he said.

ANALYSIS

Image copyrightAFP

BY DAVE LEE, NORTH AMERICA TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT

In many ways this is Facebook getting back to its roots, making your news feed more about what your friends are creating and thinking, rather than articles they have shared.

For the first time, Mark Zuckerberg is making a major decision that goes against one of his long-held beliefs: any change to the network must have the goal of improving engagement. This move, he concedes, will likely lead to people spending less time on the site.

But after a tough 2017, Mr Zuckerberg is perhaps learning now that in the wake of the fake news scandal, and a platform brimming with tedious clickbait, not all engagement is good engagement.

Faced with the enormous task of having to do more to moderate what’s happening on his network, Mr Zuckerberg may have come to the conclusion that having a news free-for-all is becoming more trouble than it’s worth.

For news organisations and publications, this might spell bad news: a lot of traffic comes from Facebook. With less prominence, expect some viral sites to very quickly go out of business.

The new change of course will cost Facebook money. Mr Zuckerberg warned investors at the end of last year that combating fake news would hurt the firm’s bottom line. The question now is: by how much?